I saw a very inspiring item the other day in a newsletter of one of the cleft-palette repair charities. It told the story of Natsir, a poor farmer from Indonesia. Two of his sons, Alwi and Winner, were born with cleft lips, but Natsir’s meager income meant that getting surgery for his children was impossible. An American tourist passing through his area told Natsir of the cleft charity that could help him, and as a result of this information he was able to arrange for both of his sons to have free cleft repairs. After experiencing what must indeed have seemed like unbelievable good fortune, Natsir was immensely grateful and his thankfulness led him to begin to look for other children suffering with clefts who could be helped in the same way his own children had. Although unable to help them financially, the grateful father began volunteering as much time as he was able to find these children and to bring them to the cleft charity doctors. The newsletter tells how In less than two years, Natsir’s passion and commitment has helped over 70 children with clefts receive 100% free surgery – and thus rescued them from the same plight his own children had been in – a sad disfigurement with strong social stigma and one which impacted even such basic aspects of life as speaking and eating. You can find the whole story here: http://www.smiletrain.org/stories/natsir-story-movie.html. Thankfulness is always good, in its own right, but this story underscores the truth that deep thankfulness also has immense potential to “grow” good where there was none before. It’s a point worth pondering – the more we focus on appreciation for the good we have been given, the more good we can grow in the lives of those affected by our gratitude.